Okay so Gratuitous Space Battles now shows up on Steam for Linux and the SteamDB shows it as working. Just be aware it's the Humble Bundle version and has not received any updates since then and might not in future.
A link popped up on reddit here a while ago to point out the developer was looking into adding the HIB build of the game to Steam.

To quote the developer on this:

QuoteHi, I'm the developer. I don't actually know anything about linux at all, so the port for HIB was done on contract by a third party developer. This is why it has not been updated (because it involves hiring a contractor again for each update). If I was familiar with linux, I'd happily update the linux build and put it on steam, but I foresee all kinds of anger if the linux build is out of synch with the windows/mac build.

It seems he has decided to ignore the annoyance by giving us the outdated build anyway?

What are your thoughts folks? I have reached out via email to the developer for their comments on this.
Edit > Here is what the developer had to say:

QuoteHi there! The plan is to update the linux build if it proves popular,
but right now I don't really have any data on that until I see steam
sales showing that people are playing it on linux. I have to get a
third party contractor to update the linux build, and although I don't
care about making money from it, I'd rather not actively lose any

But hopefully that should all be possible

Cheers!

So he needs to see lots of new sales to consider updating the build!

UpdateIt's now on Steam, so hopefully he can see with lots of new Linux sales it is worth it!
The developer has stated the DLC does not work with it so don't buy the DLC! It won't work, he is working on getting the DLC removed from the Linux store page.

I honestly don't mind, he seems like a nice developer. I even tried the Steam version and made a small gameplay video here (it just covers the tutorial):

The game runs flawlessy (on singleplayer offline). It even detected my screen settings off the bat, and enabled everything in Ubuntu 12.10 64Bit. I haven't tested it with online gameplay, so I don't know about that. I do know it runs smoothly, and seriously the 2D animations in this game are awesome.

The only con is that the gameplay style of Gratuitous is not to my liking. It's a plan-then-watch kind of strategy game. I'd have loved to control the ship units myself and have them attack what I want. Heck, if there were space bases, that would be even cooler. If there is a way to control the units myself, let me know!

On an unrelated note: The developer behind Harvest:Massive Encounter is really not cool. I can't even get that game to work in 32bit, which is the only thing he aimed for! Feel like I wasted my money on Harvest...

I honestly don't mind, he seems like a nice developer. I even tried the Steam version and made a small gameplay video here (it just covers the tutorial):
[youtube]qtcEQtx8nMg[/youtube]
The game runs flawlessy (on singleplayer offline). It even detected my screen settings off the bat, and enabled everything in Ubuntu 12.10 64Bit. I haven't tested it with online gameplay, so I don't know about that. I do know it runs smoothly, and seriously the 2D animations in this game are awesome.
The only con is that the gameplay style of Gratuitous is not to my liking. It's a plan-then-watch kind of strategy game. I'd have loved to control the ship units myself and have them attack what I want. Heck, if there were space bases, that would be even cooler. If there is a way to control the units myself, let me know!
On an unrelated note: The developer behind Harvest:Massive Encounter is really not cool. I can't even get that game to work in 32bit, which is the only thing he aimed for! Feel like I wasted my money on Harvest...

That's a crying shame. At least the developer is transparent about it. I can understand it's not easy financially for him, since he's an indie developer. Still grateful he even decided to have a Linux port made

That's a crying shame. At least the developer is transparent about it. I can understand it's not easy financially for him, since he's an indie developer. Still grateful he even decided to have a Linux port made :)

Indeed, he's already said a few times that he doesn't have any experience with Linux so he has to have some indication that it's worth the effort to contract the port.

Still, sure would be nice to have the DLC's and updates.

[quote=Sabun]At least the developer is transparent about it. [/quote]
Indeed, he's already said a few times that he doesn't have any experience with Linux so he has to have some indication that it's worth the effort to contract the port.
Still, sure would be nice to have the DLC's and updates.

Ba7a7chyWait, so we cant control in Linux but if I'll play this on windows ill have the newest version with controls ? if so I consider this broken

Basically yes.

I hope the developer does make enough to get it updated I really do since these are one of my favourite types of games and the graphics are great too.

Also it's now on Steam properly.

[quote=Ba7a7chy]Wait, so we cant control in Linux but if I'll play this on windows ill have the newest version with controls ? if so I consider this broken [/quote]
Basically yes.
I hope the developer does make enough to get it updated I really do since these are one of my favourite types of games and the graphics are great too.
Also it's now on Steam properly.

The best way to get this fixed is for us to buy the game. I can understand the frustration a lot of us have with stuff like this at the moment, although we are close to proving it is worth the effort there is still some work to do. And nothing speaks quite as loud as money.

The best way to get this fixed is for us to buy the game. I can understand the frustration a lot of us have with stuff like this at the moment, although we are close to proving it is worth the effort there is still some work to do. And nothing speaks quite as loud as money.